It's 8pm on a Saturday night and I am relaxing on my couch having a glass of wine. My little man has been sleeping in his crib since he fell asleep there, ON HIS OWN, SEVEN minutes after we put him down - without a peep. You read that right. Since I have such ample time, this review will be a long one. I gave you fair warning. I'm not so rigid to think or expect that every night will unfold like tonight. There will be teeth! walking! talking! more regressions to come. However, a month after starting this process, it has become a reasonable reality for me to expect that on more days/nights rather than not (meaning NAPS and bedtime), he will go to sleep. It is a work in progress, but Dahlia guided us through it with the confidence and clarify we ourselves needed to provide to our son for the process to work. The backstory: At 11 weeks old, my son morphed from our lovely sleeping newborn waking twice a night to waking EVERY HOUR, needing to be soothed back to sleep...while sleeping in our bed. As the weeks dragged on, it became clear he was not going to outgrow this hiccup in an amount of time that would preserve my sanity (or marriage lol), and things were snowballing from bad to dreadful (more on that below). He eventually settled on a pattern of waking 4-7 times per night; however, he started having negative sleep associations to most every soothing trick in the book. I won't waste time listing such strategies or the gimmicks I bought on Amazon. Well-meaning folks always shared their soothing strategies. Well, if you can envision it, we tried it. Don't start to tell me about white noise and black out shades. Eventually, NOTHING WORKED except the boob. So sleep - meaning all naps and bedtime plus the night wake ups - became an hour long battle with raging, screaming, kicking, tears. All of which did not guarantee an outcome of sleep in the end! This was a vicious cycle on repeat at least 4 times daily which went on for almost two months (give or take some days where baby was so exhausted he slept well for a night or two). On top of this, I had impending abdominal and oral surgeries. Just icing on the cake. We knew we had to sleep train. After pouring through blogs and books about the various sleep training techniques and studies, I still had reservations (and extreme anxiety subjecting my baby to this), and needed someone to lead me through its ups and downs. Alright I'll be honest - sleep training is mostly down. It is painful. Gutwrenchingly PTSD painful if your baby is anything like mine. Enter Dahlia. She is honest, positive, supportive, respectful, and above all, will use her knowledge to SEE YOU THROUGH IT. She makes herself available and genuinely wants to help you. I cannot thank her enough and I definitely promise you will not get that from a blog. So dread. I used to DREAD naps and bedtime. The clock would hit 5:30pm and my heart would sink a little. My soul would wail a sad song. Now, I think about the time I can spend writing long reviews and blogging while he's sleeping. And the biggest plus? The little man wakes up RELAXED and RESTED and happy to see me. THANK YOU DAHLIA! read more

Dahlia is the BEST! We hired her for 3 months of postpartum work, which is no small task with twins! She was so caring, nurturing, and gentle with our babies, her experience was only outweighed by her sweetness and profound gift for "twinning". I feel so lucky to have had her work with us, she taught us (first-time parents) so much, from swaddling to bathing to infant massage! Every morning when Dahila arrived it was a ray of sunshine and positive energy, my babies responded so well to her songs, her feeding techniques, and her cuddles. We were so sad to say goodbye to her when it was time, and are almost jealous of the next family that gets to work with her! :) :) read more

I was referred to Dahlia as my lactation consultant, by my pediatrician. Dahlia made a housecall 2 days after I gave birth and was very warm and acommodating. She helped me feel at ease with my learning how to breastfeed and also helped reassure my husband by giving him tips on how to support me during breastfeeding. She answered all the questions we had as first time parents. And with me being laid up in bed, unable to walk, her bedside manner was by far much better than the nurses I had while giving birth! While some of my nurses had a slight air of impatience with my inability to walk to the bathroom (3rd degree tear, man. C'mon.), Dahlia was MUUUCH more sympathetic & gave me some advice on how to ease the obvious pain I was in. Such a breath of fresh air after that hospital stay. After our initial consultation, she was readily available on the phone to answer any further questions. Five months later, I call Dahlia up since I'm having trouble bottle-feeding my baby. With her help, I'm able to get my boy to down a few ounces in just minutes--Hallelujah! A breakthrough! Thanks Dahlia. As a lactation consultant, I highly recommend her. And for my next birth, I would definitely consider having her as my doula. read more

We had a wonderful experience with Dahlia from beginning to end. She was the perfect mix of experience, professionalism and warmth. We met with 4 doulas and spoke with quite a few more while looking for the right fit. After my first phone conversation I had a good feeling that my search was over. We met her in person and that sealed the deal. She has a ton of knowledge and shares it in a way that's meaningful. She's very responsive and was great at providing information and support that helped put my mind at ease and prepare me for the big event. My husband initially wasn't thrilled about the idea of a doula but Dahlia was great at being supportive and educating us without stepping on his toes. We're both the "do-it-yourself" types, but having Dahlia be a part of our birth experience was a fantastic call. During labor, it was so great to have both my husband and Dahlia there to support me. I had an incredibly fast ramp up to active labor and Dahlia was at the hospital right away. She was a reassuring, calming and experienced presence and was instrumental in getting us admitted quickly and settled in. During the process, she was fantastic about asking the doctors questions that we hadn't thought of to help us make the best decisions for myself and our son. She was completely supportive of the decisions we made and was there every step of the way to make it easier and more comfortable for my husband and I. We were so pleased with our experience. We highly recommend working with Dahlia if you are considering a doula. She's awesome. We currently live in Oakland and delivered mid-June at Alta Bates in Berkeley. read more

Dahlia was our night doula and lactation consultant this summer and we absolutely loved working with her. She is not only knowledgable and professional but so warm and encouraging that, as first-time parents, we felt supported and more confident in caring for our newborn. She is thoughtful and communicative, checking in to see how we were doing and offering us little tips to respond to our baby's sleeping and feeding needs. She would send additional resources to refer to, and even connected me to a moms' group that was meeting virtually (due to the pandemic). You and your child are in great hands with Dahlia. read more

Dahlia is soo sweet. When I was on bedrest she came to our house and did a one and one breastfeeding class since I couldn't make the actual class. We learned a lot and really appreciated her spending the time with us. She followed up with me a few times and gave me a lot of great resources that only someone experienced would know. I used a lot of those resources too. 6 months and still breastfeeding Dahlia is still answering my questions and is so patient and sweet. I highly recommend her services! read more

I've really appreciated Dahlia's support and guidance throughout our process sleep training our baby. She has been beautifully supportive of our sleep training method of choice and was able to guide us with tangible reinforcement to make small, yet very significant tweaks in our approach and schedule. She was thorough and really took the details into consideration and made what felt like an abyss of sleep info, easily digestible for two tired, new parents! Thank you Dahlia!! read more

We interviewed 8 doulas in preparation for for the birth of our first child. While all doulas were referrals, Danielle reached out to us after one doula that had no availability during the month of our due date, sent out an email announcement regarding our needs. Danielle stood out from this group of wonderful Doulas that we met. She has a wonderful personality, very engaging and passionate about her work; very professional, organized and efficiently clear about her process. It was a huge plus for us that she is also a certified lactation consultant and is currently in training to become a midwife. Though she has no children of her own yet, she has attended more births that most of the Doulas that we met with. Her experience, passion, knowledge and overall wonderful energy, made our decision to go with her and Ideal Birth, an easy one. My labor turned out to be 26 hours. 16 of those hours without any pain management. She was with me the entire time and worked very well with my husband to create a supportive team. She was amazing at being able to keep herself hydrated and fed without us even seeing when she did that...making the experience as seem less and focused on my needs as can be. And when we had an issue with one of the attending nurses at the hospital, she was wonderful at communicating our expectations to the charge nurse and insuring that we had a nurse that gelled well with our birth vision. She used her "bag of tricks" and always had options and suggestions when it came to dealing with the contractions. A couple of weeks after the birth, Danielle followed up with a post partum visit and even brought her own baby tub to show us bathing techniques for our baby. We felt solid on the bathing, so we passed on that, but were grateful to have that option available to us. Lastly, she gave us wonderful advice/tricks to help us and our little daughter sleep well. My husband and I consistently get 6-7 hours of sleep per night! Danielle is amazing and I can confidently recommend her as a Doula to anyone that asks. read more

I am sad that I didn't find Malia sooner... She turned a difficult situation into one filled with kindness, love and compassion. It is very difficult to find someone that will teach you the necessary things when you have an newborn. I find most people are not nurturing and don't make you feel supported. Malia made me feel as if whatever decisions I made are the right ones and helped me to realize what I wanted for my baby. I highly recommend Ideal Birth as a one stop shop for pregnant women and new mothers. They offer classes on everything you will need and if they don't offer it they will find you someone who does! Do yourself a favor and don't waste your time anywhere else! read more

I would like to give many MANY stars to our incredible Doula, Dahlia Frydman. I have to say, it was the BEST decision we made on our birth plan. She is fantastic. She was so patient, experienced, gentle, loving, and brought such a wonderful energy to our experience, I can't imagine having gone through this without her. She was our rock during one of the most vulnerable times during a couple's life. She did everything she promised and more. She knew the Cedars protocol like the back of her hand so when we went, we knew what to expect. She helped me labor at home for several hours, keeping a close eye on me and helping my partner feel like he was an integral part of the whole process. As a first time mom, I had many reservations about not running to the hospital at the first sign of labor, but she made both of us feel comfortable and safe at home during what can be a painful and scary experience as labor escalates. She knew just when to get me to the hospital and continued to coach and support us throughout the entire birth experience, making sure our every need was met. She then supported us post birth and kept in touch, making sure the breast feeding process was on track and successful. I love this woman and hope to keep her in our lives for a long long time. read more

The ladies at Ideal Birth are amazing. Each Douala brings such a unique and loving energy to their clients. I have taken several classes which Ideal Birth offers and have really come to rely on them as my support system and community of moms I trust. read more

Hiring Dahlia as our birth doula was one of the best decisions we could have made. I knew I wanted to have an unmedicated birth in a hospital, so I knew I would need support. We interviewed four different doulas before hiring Dahlia. Her knowledge, experience, and overall demeanor put her ahead of everyone else. From the moment early labor began, she was just a phone call away and gave me the advice and encouragement I needed to progress. She arrived at our home and was a perfect partner. She knew exactly when to go to the hospital and was an amazing advocate once there. We had the birth we wanted. And although it got very difficult at times, it would have been so much harder without Dahlia's support. We also hired Dahlia postpartum as a lactation consultant, and again she got me through the difficult time I was having in order to give my son what I know he needed. read more

I highly highly recomend Ideal Birth!! Everytime I see a pregnant women or a new mom I try to find someway to tell them about these amazing women at Ideal Birth. And I didn't even really need much help in the first place, but was recommended by my pediatrition to work with a lactaction consultant. Malia called me back right away and I realized I had a lot to learn and loved all of the tips to make this experience as a new mom even more amazing. I went home with my brand new baby feeling so much more confident and had so many solutions. They offer help with breastfeeding, support groups, exercise groups, many different classes, and even massage that comes to your house. The best thing is that I really feel like family and never feel intimidated to pick up the phone and call when I have a question about my little guy. It's so nice to have so much support--Thanks guys!!! read more

Dahlia at Ideal birth is amazing. As our lactation consultant, she is so smart and helpful. She has the most delicious way about her. Who knew breast feeding could be so trying in so many ways. I felt so comfortable with her and she helped me tremendously during one of the most vulnerable times of my life. My husband and i adore her and she feels like part of the family now. We recommend Dahlia to everyone! read more

Dahlia came highly recommended by many professionals (doula, etc) as a Lactation Consultant and my expectations were high. She went above and beyond my wildest hopes. If you are reading this / questioning hiring her -DO IT. Breast feeding has many challenges and having an experienced, warm, knowledgable resource like Dahlia is PRICELESS. I started off with a slow supply and difficulty feeding my tiny baby. It was scary and the pediatrician wanted to give her formula. Dahlia got me threw it. She gave me the resources needed to exclusively breast feed my baby during her first days/months and continues to be a resource. Thank you Dahlia!! read more

Dahlia was extremely helpful, knowledgeable, and caring when I requested her help with lactation. I was in an extremely difficult situation after extended nursing difficulty, including a nursing strike. Dalia tried many different techniques, answered all our questions and stayed with us until we had exhausted all options. She knows her stuff, has a sense of humor and genuinely cares about the client. I recommend her services to anyone seeking lactation support. I only wish I had called sooner. I'd give her 5 stars except for that fact that nursing never actually worked out for us - she was our last effort and she truly made me feel that I had tried everything. She never minimized my situation but was perfectly honest and thorough. read more

I had Dahlia come to my house for a postpartum visit. I wasn't having particular problems but just wanted to learn more about breast feeding and had some questions. She was very helpful. She was diligent about staying in touch with me and communicating both before and after her visit. She answered my questions and was very knowledgeable. She also has a very pleasant/soothing demeanor. I imagine should would have been a wonderful delivery doula (I didn't have a delivery doula because I had a scheduled C-section due to complications). She also made me feel like I could contact her anytime I want and use her as a resource in the future. read more

Dahlia came immediately to my house when I became massively engorged and panicked as to how to feed my baby. She was warm, sweet, calm, professional and stayed for several hours to make sure I was confident the problem had been fixed. She also followed up with me with several phone calls and when I began having other breast feeding problems, she was very helpful and gave me solutions over the phone for no extra cost. I highly recommend her and Ideal Birth. I felt like I got my moneys worth and then some. Being a new mom is very scary and stressful and having someone like Dahlia come help you was like an angel had walked into my house. I instantly felt reassured, safe and confident that the problem would get solved and my son would be ok. Thankyou Dahlia! read more

This review is long overdue. I was referred to Dahlia by our pediatrician for lactation services back in October last year. She did a home visit the next day and was so sweet and caring. She made me feel so comfortable during this process and eased my concerns and frustrations. She assisted me with trying out different feeding positions and techniques. She also provided me with an array of "tricks" to keep my LO latched on and engaged. In addition, I was able to contact her when I was having a rough day with our feedings. Lastly, Dahlia provided me with referrals to contact when she unfortunately was in a car accident and needed time to heal. Thank you for all your hard work and hope all is well. read more

Our experience was with Dahlia for sleep training, and it was amazing. She helped us with our second kid, who had stopped sleeping well at four months. We'd started co sleeping in order to get any sleep at all. By 8.5 months, co sleeping wasn't working any longer, both for safety (fast crawler) and sleep (flailing all night long) reasons. We were given a referral to Dahlia, and immediately felt like she could help us. She skillfully navigated two parents with very different ideas about how to fix our son's sleep. She crafted a plan for us that addressed each of our concerns and repeatedly checked in to make sure we each felt ok about what we were doing. She is an excellent communicator, really honest and nonjudgmental, and someone who you really want to talk to. Over the course of a month our boy went from waking every 2-3 hours and sleeping only on us or in our bed to sleeping and napping independently. He still wakes up to eat, but Dahlia's made clear that when we are ready to work on that, she'll be here for us. Above all else, she is absolutely kind and respectful, which is really critical when you are sleep deprived but also want to do what's best for your little smoosh. I can't recommend her enough. read more

My partner and I just finished our birthing classes at Ideal Birth! Dahlia was so delightful. She is gentle and honest about what to expect with pregnancy, labor and delivery. We feel really lucky to have such a knowledgeable and experienced resource like Dahlia to reach out to if needed. read more

All of the Doulas are wonderful, knowledgeable, & caring women. Dahlia is a ray of shining light and positivity! She was an amazing support before the birth of our son, a rock during our challenging home birth, and continues to be a great friend to our new family! We feel so lucky to have found her and are looking forward to having her on our team with the birth of our next child. read more

I had a wonderful experience with Danielle from Ideal Birth. We hired her to be our birth doula. She was extremely knowledgable about every aspect of pre birth, labor, birth, and after birth processes. Any question we asked her, she answered with no hesitation. She is highly experienced and we were very lucky to have her support during my birth. I would definitely recommend Ideal Birth for your any of your birthing needs! read more

I cannot say enough great things about the wonderful, supportive, and nurturing care I received from Dahlia. She really is a joy to be around and an incredible resource, and I wish every one of my pregnant friends could be lucky enough to have her join their birth journey. We hired Dahlia as our birth doula and got so much more than we were expecting. Over the course of many many visits and meetings she helped us prepare for birth, parenting, and breastfeeding, and did an incredible job educating and providing information without introducing any of her own biases or pressuring us in any way. I constantly felt supported and empowered to make my own decisions and trust my judgement, while still feeling confident I had all the best resources and information to base those decisions on. Dahlia is amazingly well-informed, and even though we read all the books and took all the classes, she still provided us with lots of food for thought and questions we'd never thought to ask ourselves or our doctors. She even came with us to my OB to establish a good rapport with him and help set the stage for a wonderful hospital birth. On the day of my son's birth Dahlia was at our side from start to finish (she was my first phone call at 4am - before I even woke up my husband!). The level of care, support, and attentive love we received from her for the duration of a long day was far beyond what I had expected or hoped for. Long story short, I had a beautiful 18 hour unmedicated labor, despite several obstacles and complications, and I am certain that if it weren't for Dahlia, I would have had a very, very different day. She did an incredible job helping me stay motivated and relaxed, and advocating for my little family from start to finish. As an added bonus, since Dahlia is also a licensed lactation consultant, she was there to help us with my son's first latch, and to help us troubleshoot and consult over his first few weeks to make our breastfeeding experience smooth and lovely. If I could, I would give her 50 stars. read more

This is the first time I have ever written a review, and the reason I am writing it is because I am absolutely blown away by just how amazing I have found the entire experience to be since I met Dahlia, the doula I had during my birthing experience. (I actually had her partner Lyndey during the actual birth, but I feel the same about both of them). Let me start by saying that not only did she spend a huge amount of time educating me about different herbs, aromatherapy and methods and breathing options out there, she also gave me a course in lactation (which of course I needed) and when problems arose months later she responded immediately with solutions and came straight to my house with a scale to weight my LO and methods to solve the problem. Anytime I have question I still contact her to this day and she gets right back to me and helps me through it. I have even called her late at night and she still responded! I must say I have never met someone as smart and as caring as she, and I am lucky to know her. She has given me so much and with such a great energy, I don't know what I would do without her! I must say that she should charge a lot more for what she gives out, she is worth every penny! read more

I had already lost my mind when I contacted Dahlia due to sleep deprivation. My nearly two year old son was waking up 18-25x/night--almost every 20 minutes. When I first called her and described my case, she already offered advice over the phone, which reduced my son's wake ups to around 7x/night before even starting a program with her! (Just from the tips she offered when we first spoke) After solid communication and generously taking a chunk of time to meet with me, we came up with a plan that immediately reduced my son's wake ups to 2x/night. With her guidance he's been able to sleep thru the night at times. However, we travel monthly in different time zones, so it's been hard to adhere to her comprehensive plan..but each time we come back to it we see the same, consistent and positive results. She has really been a life line for our family and someone we know is there whenever we find ourselves in dire sleep need. I 100% recommend Dahlia and her services. read more

We met Dahlia about six months ago, when our son was three months old. She was referred to us by our lactation consultant as a great resource for gentle sleep training. We were in the throws of new parenthood, sleep deprived and yearning for guidance from an expert on how to establish healthy sleep habits for our family. After several months of focused work and dedication, I'm happy to share that we have a happy, healthy son who's been sleeping through the night since he turned six months old. What began as a journey with a baby who would only sleep if nursed and held has led to a baby who has the ability to fall asleep on his own. Dahlia's knowledge, guidance, and genuine care is a large contributing factor in this. I especially appreciate how Dahlia's advice is rooted in scientific evidence and years of experience, and how she's been available to steer us in a positive direction offering tips, tricks and options that best suit our family along the way. Thank you, Dahlia, for this gift to our family! Life is much better now that we're all getting more rest. read more

Dahlia is great for help with sleep issues! We are so grateful for her support and patience helping us work through a difficult time with our little one. Thank you thank you thank you! read more

Dahlia was an incredibly calming, comforting, and encouraging presence in a time of stressed out sleeplessness, confusion, and hormonal craziness, also known as postpartum. After a very discouraging experience with the lactation consultants at Kaiser, Dahlia was a breath of fresh air. She was reassuring and helpful for me as a new mom learning to breastfeed for the first time and most of all she made me feel as though everything I was going through was normal and healthy (in short, she really helped me stop freaking out:) And not only did she provide an incredible service for a reasonable fee, but she went above and beyond the one in home visit we paid for and has continued to check up on us and offer phone consultation, text, and email. Her care are dedication to helping mamas is genuine. read more

Dahlia from Ideal Birth is a blessing - she was there for us as a birth doula for our first child and we couldn't have done it without her. She spent a great deal of time with us in advance, preparing us for the big day. And when our lil one came 2.5 weeks early, she was able to really get my husband and me up to speed about newborn care immediately afterwards. Dahlia made herself available via phone/email/in person as needed and since Gemma was colicky and had reflux issues off the bat, we really needed that additional care. Also, we had need for referrals for other services, like postpartum nurse/doula, chiro, etc. and Dahlia ensured we received the information quickly. Thanks a million, Dahlia! read more

I had a wonderful experience with Malia and the entire staff at Ideal Birth. After a horrible experience with my first birth I was hopeful that my second birth would be different-and it was! Malia was a tremendous support and was amazing at relieving my pain. Malia was there for me before, during and after my delivery. She is a invaluable resource and friend. read more

I am not a person who writes reviews. But I created a yelp account because I want to express my huge gratitude to Dahlia!!!!!!! One month after giving birth I had so many problems with breastfeeding that I was ready to give up...But Dahlia made a miracle! I feel so uplifted now! Me, my baby and my husband, we all say THANKS YOU!!!!!!!! Thanks for you professionalism, support, care and consideration!!!! May God bless you and your family! read more

I was referred to Dahlia by my postpartum doula Karah. She contacted me immediately and two days later she did a home visit. Dahlia is very sweet, warm and encouraging - you feel absolutely comfortable around her! She was very patient and explained everything while she helped me with different feeding positions. My experiences with lactation consultants hadn't been very helpful to that point so I was really happy to meet Dahlia! She is very caring and also very professional - I highly recommend her! read more

We did it all with Ideal Birth & they were wonderful! Pre fertility doula and reflexology for fertility ,Childbirth education class, Breast feeding class, we had one of their doulas at my wife's birth (she was amazing!!) We had their Lactation consultant meet us at the house for a couple of sessions after we brought our son home and had an Ideal Birth postpartum doula for the first 4 nights we were home. OMG all you still preggers out there! IDK how we would have done it without them. Thanks to all their help, teaching and support we feel so relaxed and confident caring for our son, and if we have a question about something we just call them and we always get an answer right away. The group of women over at Ideal Birth are so warm and knowledgeable, they make you feel like you're family. Thankyou for giving us everything we need and so much more during this extremely special time. read more

Dahlia from Ideal Birth came highly recommended by my sister who had also used her. My husband and I were a bit skeptical at first of using a doula but once we began the process we found it well worth the cost. It's the difference between going to a gym on your own and having a private instructor - it makes all the difference in the world! She answered all our questions via text, email and phone and during the birthing process she was gentle, informative and kind. Even though she had another client who had their baby mere moments before we arrived at the hospital - she came to our room once we arrived and didn't leave our side until our baby latched 19 hours later! She marathoned TWO births and never flinched. Even after our birth she has generously replied with her wisdom and encouragemen regarding breastfeeding and any other baby related questions. We highly recommend Ideal Birth's services! read more

Everything you have read below is true and even more! How many positive adjectives can't you use to describe one person? There probably aren't enough in the English language but when it comes to Dahlia, a FEW that even begin to do her justice are: AMAZING, SUPPORTIVE, LOVING, KIND, NURTURING, and the list goes on and on! She truly is a superwoman! I am writing such a brief review only because I am breast-feeding my newborn, who, thanks to her love and support, has a sane & nurturing mom who is still in tact after a harrowing & difficult pregnancy, and even an unexpected C-section. Despite the fact that I had the C-section, (breech & low amnio) if I had to do it all over again, I would have hired Dahia hands down! She is a wealth of information, and will help you with little things you wouldn't have thought of like bringing a syringe to the hospital to collect your cholostrum I had of time so you are able to give some to the baby right away, infant massage, homeopathic medicine to shorten labor and make things less painful, etc., etc.! This is the best gift you can ever give yourself, especially when dealing with a potentially frightening, and life altering experience! Dahlia is truly my personal angel on earth... Run, don't walk! read more